Data Protection Policy

Statement of data protection policy adopted by the Port of London Authority

The Port of London Authority (PLA) needs to collect and use certain types of information about people with whom it deals in carrying out its statutory and other responsibilities. These include current, past and prospective employees, suppliers, clients, customers and stakeholders as well as others with whom it needs to communicate. In addition, it may occasionally be required by law to collect and use certain types of information of this kind to comply with the requirements of government departments for business data. The PLA recognises that this personal information must be dealt with properly however it is collected, recorded and used - whether on paper, in a computer or recorded on other material - and that there are safeguards to ensure this in the Data Protection Act 1998.

The PLA regards the lawful and correct treatment of personal information as of the utmost importance to the successful prosecution of its responsibilities and the maintenance of confidence between the Authority and those with whom it deals. PLA undertakes to ensure, therefore, that personal data is treated lawfully and correctly.

To this end, the PLA fully endorses and adheres to the Principles of data protection, as enumerated in the Data Protection Act 1998. Specifically, the Principles require that personal information:

shall be processed fairly and lawfully and, in particular, shall not be processed unless specific conditions are met;

shall be obtained only for one or more specified and lawful purposes, and shall not be further processed in any manner incompatible with that purpose or those purposes;

shall be adequate, relevant and not excessive in relation to the purpose or purposes for which they are processed;

shall be accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date;

shall not be kept for longer than is necessary for that purpose or those purposes;

shall be processed in accordance with the rights of data subjects under the Act;

shall be subject to appropriate technical and organisational measures against unauthorised or unlawful processing and against accidental loss, damage or destruction;

shall not be transferred to a country or territory outside the European Economic Area unless that country or territory ensures an adequate level of protection for the rights and freedoms of data subjects in relation to the processing of personal data.

In discharging its duties and responsibilities under the Act, the PLA will, through appropriate management, strict application of criteria and controls:

observe fully conditions regarding the fair collection and use of information;

meet its legal obligations to specify the purposes for which information is used;

collect and process appropriate information, and only to the extent that it is needed to fulfil operational needs or to comply with any legal requirements;

ensure the quality of information used;

apply strict checks to determine the length of time information is held;

ensure that the rights of people about whom information is held are able to be fully exercised under the Act. (These include the right to be informed that processing is being undertaken, the right of access to one's personal information, the right to prevent processing in certain circumstances and the right to correct, rectify, block or erase information which is regarded as wrong information);